Shield for sanitary napkins



Dec- 25, 1952 M. wElTzMAN 3,070,095

SHIELD FOR SANITARY NAPKINS Filed Oct. 27, 1959 A MOQQ/S W15/7' Z ////V INVENTOR.

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United States Patent Oiice 3,@79h Patented Dec. 25, 1962 3,070,096 SHIELD FR SANITARY NAPKENS Morris Weitzman, fdti Devonshire Si., Granada Hals, Caiit. Filed Uct. 27, 1959, Ser. No. Sli-QSS 4 Clair-ns. (El. l2--2SD This invention relates to shields for sanitary napkins.

It is an object of this invention to provide a sanitary napkin shield which constitutes an improvement in this art in point of simplicity of construction, comfort of the user, better conformation to the body of the user, obviation of bulkiness and undue stretching of the napkin, ease of application, having a reliable and thorough shielding action and in being subject to an easy and thorough washing.

It is another object of this invention to provide a shield such as described wherein the novel construction and arrangement of a soft, absorbent and flexible pad in the na ture of sponge rubber, an impervious and flexible plastic backing strip and similar plastic coverings for end portions of the pad, achieve the above-noted objectives in a particularly eiicacious manner.

It is another object hereof to provide a shield such as described in which the backing strip and end coverings reinforce the shietd and prevent such stretching of tue shield that may result in failure of the shield and napkin to remain in place.

Another object is to provide a shield such as described in which the backing strip and end coverings form seals in a novel manner about margins of the pad and strip to prevent moisture from escaping from the shield and to exclude moisture from portions of the shield which are not accessible for washing and cleaning.

A further'object of this invention is to pro-vide a novel freely movable end construction of the shield whereby the ends of the shield will cup or swing upwardly and conform to required contours without wrinkling and bulging.

A further object is the provision in the ends of the shield of slots arranged to facilitate ready attachment of the napkin to the shield, to prevent stretching of the napkin, as well as to cause the shield to closely and comfortably conform to the napkin and the user.

@ther objects and advantages of the invention will be hereinafter' described or will become apparent to those skilled in the art, and the novel features of the invention will be defined in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawing:

FiG. l is a top plan view of a shield present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 2--2 of FlG. l on an enlarged scale;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. l;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary top plan view of an end portion of the shield;

FIG. 5 is a plan view ot the shield as it would appear when applied to a sanitary napkin; and

FIG. 6 is a side elevation of the pad and napkin as seen in FIG. 5.

As shown in the accompanying drawing, a sanitary napkin shield embodying the present invention generally comprises an elongate pad It of soft, porous, absorbent and -exible material in the nature of Sponge rubber, a backing strip 2 of a suitable flexible and impervious plastic covering the entire back of the pad, and flexible and impervious plastic coverings 3 overlying end portions 4i of the pad and bonded to the backing strip so as to enclose and isolate the pad end portions 4 from the main body of the pad il exposed for contact with a sanitary napkin.

embodying the Slots S are provided in the end portions of the shield so that end tabs e of a sanitary napkin 7 may be inserted therethrough to hold the shield on the napkin as shown in FlGS. 4 and 5. The slots 5 extend through the coverings 3, the end portions 4 of the pad and the backing strip 2, and are located so that when the end tabs of the napkin are threaded through the slots from the upper side ot the shield and pulled to cause the ends of the napkin proper to abut the end portions of the shield around the slots, the napkin will be properly held on the shield without bulging and is prevented from being objectionably stretched while the end tabs are secured to a sanitary belt, not shown, during use of the shield.

it is desired that the exposed main body of the pad 1 which as here shown is rectangular, be marginally sealed to the backing strip 2. Accordingly, the margins of the backing strip 2 are curled or cupped upwardly and bonded to the margins ot the pad El, thereby forming an effective continuous leakproof channel 8 as shown in FG. 3, extending around the entire shield. This chanwill restrain moisture which tends to run ot the side margins of the pad The pad l is unattached to the backing strip except at the margins, and this leaves the pad and backing strip free to better conform to curvatures, also increases capacity of the shield to hold moisture.

As here shown, the ends of the shield are rounded, the impervious coverings 3 being substantially semicircular and having the correspondingly rounded margins Sia bonded to like rounded margins of the backing strip. The straight edge portions 3b of the coverings 3 are bonded to the backing strip 2 so as to form transverse seals 3c across the ends of the shield. The straight edge portions outwardly of the seals form Short liaps 5a' which are free of connection with pad It and afford full access to the pad for the washing of the pad. These transverse eals 3c do not include therebetween any portion of the sponge-like pad and, therefore, are quite ilexible and serve as hinge portions permitting free upward curving and swinging of the rounded end portions of the pad and thereby providing for better and closer conformation oi' the shield to the napkin.

it will now be apparent that the rectangular main body of the pad i is fully exposed for contact with the napkin and is sealed about all margins thereof in a manner assuring better retention of moisture with little likelihood of allowing accumulated moisture to run oit the pad onto the clothing of the user.

The pad l is comparatively thin, yet has an appreciable cushioning action, and in being free from connection with the backing strip except at the sealed margins thereof, the capacity of the pad for retaining moisture is increased, as the moisture will be accumulated and held between the impervious backing strip and the pad much more etectively than would be the case if the pad were secured throughout its area to the backing strip.

The backing strip 2 and coverings 3 are relatively inelastic and, therefore, will prevent the pad 1 and the entire shield from being stretched and failing to hold the napkin and shield in place.

The pad portions 4 in the sealed ends of the shield are completely isolated from the rectangular exposed body of the pad in that they are sealed between the backing strip 2 and the coverings 3, which latter also are bonded together about the margins of the slots 5 to form seals 5a preventing moisture from entering the pad portions d through the slots. Thus, the pad portions d serve only to cushion the rounded end portions of the shield, to reinforce the shield and to add to the comfort of the wearer. This cushioning action is enhanced by air trapped in the sealed end portions of the shield.

it should be noted that by reason of the free hinge action aorded by the yseals .50, the shield ends will readily cup upwardly to confio-rm to the curvature ot the napkin when the latter is in use, thereby avoiding bulging and Vbulkiness and adding to the comfort of the wearer.

ln having the slots in'the sealed end portions of the shield, when the mountingtabs 6 of the napkin are pulled to fasten them in place on the wearer, this wih cause trie shield to conform closely and comfortably to the napkin, due to the manner in which the pull is exerted on the shield from the slotted ends thereof, there being no appreciable w'rinkling at the upwardly cupped ends of or throughout the shield.

While specific structural details have been shown and described, it should be understood that changes and alterations may be resorted to without departing from the spirit ofthe invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A sanitary napkin shield comprising: an elongated pad of absorbent and flexible material adapted to underlie the napkin; a tiexible, impervious backing strip joined along its margins to margins of said pad; and flexible, impervious coverings overlying end portions of the pad and having transverse marginal portions bonded to the backing strip and forming transverse seals separating said end portions of the pad from the remainder of the pad and providing shield end portions freely upwardly bendable about said transverseseals; said end portions having slots extending therethrough for reception of the end tabs of the napkin'.

2. A sanitary napkin shield comprising: an elongated pad of absorbent and flexible material adapted to underlie the napkin; a Abacking strip of flexible, impervious material joined to and covering the back of the pad; and tlexible, impervious coverings overlying end portions of the face of the pad; said coverings being bonded about their margins to' said backing stripythere being slots in the end portions of the pad extending through said coverings, the pad and the backing strip to facilitate the insertion therethrough of the end tabs of the napkin; said coverings and said backing strip being bonded to one another about the'margins of said slots to form seals excluding moisture from entering said end portions of said pad through said slots.`

3. A shield for a sanitary napkin comprising: an elongate sectional pad of flexible, absorbent material having a main body portion and end'portions spaced from the ends of said body; a backing Strip of a leXible and impervious plastic materiall covering the back of said portions o said shield; said strip having upwardly curved lmargins extending along and bonded to the margins of said portions lof said pad; and coverings of a ilexible, impervious plastic material extending over said end portions of said pad and having their'margins bonded to said backing strip to form a seal surrounding said end portions of said pad; there being slots in the ends of the shield extending through said coverings, said end portions of said pad and `said backing strip; said coverings and said backing strip being bonded together about the margins of said slots to form seals excluding moisture' `from entering said end portions of said pad through said slots.

4 A shield for a sanitary napkin comprising: anelongate backing strip of a llexible and impervious plastic material; an elongate pad of liexible, absorbent material supported on said backing strip in position to engage throughout its length a sanitary napkin; said backingstrip being of greater length than said pad; and vplastic coverings overlying the ends of said backing strip and bonded thereto; said backing strip being bonded about its margins to the margins of said pad; there being slots in the ends of the shield extending through said coverings and said backing strip; :said coverings and said backing strip being bonded to one another about the margins ofsaid slots.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATESPATENTS 2,587,459 Fuentes Feb. 26, 1952 2,664,895 Shulman Jan. 5, 1954 2,831,486 Sanders Apr. 22, 1958 2,888,926 Arce June 2, 1959 FOREGN PATENTS 169,087 Great Britain Sept.V 22, 1921 

